The front of a limited-edition T-shirt, designed on Staten Island and sold for $30 at the Richmond Hood Company on Castleton Avenue in West Brighton.Staten Island Advance/Virginia N. Sherry

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- "Some people don't know that Todt Hill on Staten Island is the highest point above sea level on the Eastern Seaboard (south of Maine)," said Tariq Zaid, owner of Richmond Hood Company on 821 Castleton Ave.

So he and some of his creative colleagues finally decided to do something about it, creating a T-shirt to spread the word.

Emblazoned on the front is a logo for fictitious Todt Hill Tavern, "The Highest in New York City," noting the elevation at 420 feet.

Well, okay, that's a tiny exaggeration of 10 feet, according to U.S. Geological Survey's measurement of the intersection of Todt Hill Road and Ocean Terrace as 410 feet.

But with a T-shirt this creatively inspired, who's going to quibble about a mere 10 feet?

The back of the shirt is printed with "plant life" leaves, Zaid pointed out with a smile.

"The spring weather is finally creeping up on us. As the mercury rises, so will our level of freshness," Zaid promised.

In comparison
Staten Island enjoys Eastern Seaboard bragging rights for its 420-foot elevation at Todt Hill Road and Ocean Terrace. Here are some other notable high points.

In the East
In New York State, the highest inland elevation is Mt. Marcy in the Adirondacks, at 5,344 feet.
Mt. Washington in New Hampshire rises to 6,288 feet.

The T-shirt was a collaborative effort as Zaid and other designer-friends tossed around ideas.

"It was a cool fact that we could play on – Staten Island has it!" he said.

The design was finalized a few months ago, and the first batch of men's T-shirts, sizes small to extra-large, rolled out last month, sold at the shop for $30.

'CREATIVE DUDES'

"We're creative dudes, and trying to grow our own Richmond Hood house brand, our own home-grown designs," Zaid commented. "We pride ourselves as that cool Staten Island shop, and we see people embrace that when they leave with a product."

More Todt Hill Tavern T-shirts are on the way later this month, in additional colors (apple green and purple) and women's style and sizes.

In tandem with arrival of the new T-shirts, Richmond Hood will release on April 20 the first of an anticipated series of monthly music mixes titled "Richmond Hood Company Presents the Highest in New York."

The "420 Mix" by Staten Islander DJ Run P will be available for free download on the shop's website: www.richmondhood.com.